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Quebec's emergency law and Montreal's mask-ban law have done little to quell the civil unrest across the province or dampen people's desire to protest.

Sixty-nine people were arrested Saturday during the 26th straight night of protests in downtown Montreal. About 5,000 people, many of them defiantly wearing masks, marched through the city streets.

Saturday's march was declared illegal shortly after it started around 9 p.m. because its itinerary was not given to police - that violated two recent laws passed by Montreal and Quebec's legislatures. Police said that they also declared the march illegal because projectiles were thrown at police and protesters attempted to march down a busy street against traffic.

Police said most people arrested face illegal assembly charges, while others face Criminal Code violations including arson and assault on an officer.

The provincial government passed Bill 78 on Friday evening which banned spontaneous protests of 50 or more people and which imposed harsh penalties on anyone trying to prevent people from going to school. Montreal passed its own set of legislation Friday which gave police more power to control crowds during protests. The city law bans masks during gatherings when police decide that protesters do not have a reason for wearing one.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a spokesman for Quebec's largest student federation representing roughly half of the 150,000 students on strike, told QMI Agency Sunday that Saturday's violence is a direct response to the government's law.

"This law will not bring calm," he said Sunday morning. "On the contrary, I said it would bring more violence and confrontation and this is what happened (last night)."

Nadeau-Dubois acknowledged that the recent protests in Montreal have moved beyond the fight against Quebec Premier Jean Charest plan to hike university tuition by $1,800 over seven years.

"It's clear that with the law, Charest has made few new friends. More people will take to the streets because of it."

Saturday's march marked the first time the province's two new laws applied. However, Montreal police alerted the crowd through Twitter that despite the protest being illegal, it would be tolerated if it remained peaceful.

Some of the protesters didn't.

Bar patrons and tourists watched and took pictures with their cell phones as protesters started a fire in the middle of a busy intersection in the city's downtown core. Protesters threw construction cones and garbage cans into the flames as black smoke billowed far above the street lights.

Police used tear gas as some protesters threw rocks and other projectiles at police.

Police spokesman Ian Lafreniere said Saturday's protest was similar in its festive tone to Friday's demonstration, when up to 10,000 people marched through the downtown core. However, he said, "there really was on Saturday night, a core of people who wanted a confrontation."

The protest was largely over by 2 a.m. and police said no one was seriously injured.

Many segments of Quebec civil society, including the president of the province's bar association, have criticized the emergency law for its limits on freedom of assembly.

Protesters were also given support Saturday from hundreds of kilometres away, as the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Montreal's Arcade Fire sang together on the season finale of Saturday Night Live wearing the symbols of the student movement.

Arcade fire band members sported the red square on their shirts, which is the symbol of the anti-tuition hike movement as Jagger wore a red shirt behind his black suit jacket.

American documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has also thrown his support behind the student movement. He tweeted early Saturday morning: "Also, the band Arcade Fire wore red patches in support of the striking students in Quebec, one of the most amazing mass protests of the year."

More protests are scheduled Sunday in Montreal, including a 27th consecutive night march.